For the sake of unity, summit papers over the cracks

The Summit of the Americas ended with apparent harmony on a range of issues, but analysts yesterday doubted the prospects of implementation would be straightforward.

They believed differences on trade liberalisation and poverty had been hastily papered over for the sake of presenting unity and that cracks would quickly emerge.

American economist Mark Weisbrot suggested free trade was not a solution to economic growth and that Latin American nations lacked direction in alleviating poverty. Others believed that like Western Europe, key countries distrusted United States President George W. Bush because of the wars against terrorism and Iraq.

'You can't do much about poverty if there's no economic growth,' Mr Weisbrot, of the Centre for Economic Policy and Research in Washington, said.

'Everything given to poor people would have to be taken from someone else and still not much could be done.'

He said giving wealth generated from economic growth to poor people was not possible when most Latin American nations were not experiencing the necessary improvement. Over the past two decades, growth per person had virtually ground to a halt.

Mr Bush's much-touted Free Trade Area of the Americas, which was included in the communique despite the initial objections of the continent's biggest economy, Brazil, was similarly flawed, he believed.